Despite Ivanka Trump stepping back from her brand to enter an advisory role in the White House, her business appears to be thriving.
The First Daughter’s company recently won provisional approval from Chinese regulators for four new trademarks, giving it a monopoly to sell jewelry, bags and spa services in the country. Sales have hit record highs, and imports are up, according to the Associated Press.
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Trump has taken a step back from directly managing her company, though still maintains ownership of her brand and has promised to avoid conflicts of interest. Despite boycotts from several stores and recent reports that the popular retailer Nordstrom had dropped Trump’s brand, distribution continues to grow.
U.S. imports for Trump’s products shot up by 166 per cent last year with sales hitting record highs in 2017. The company has launched a new activewear and affordable jewelry lines, and is apparently working to expand its intellectual property footprint.
Ivanka Trump Marks LLC has also gone on to apply for nine new trademarks in the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Canada and the U.S. after the election.
Ivanka Trump’s predicament closely mimics that of her father, President Donald Trump, who’ve both made commitments to separate themselves from their business interests upon entering positions in the White House.
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These kinds of commercial interests are unprecedented in the White House, and continue to plague members of the Trump administration. While ethics lawyers such as Richard Painter and Norman Eisman say that using political stature to build a brand isn’t illegal, officials like Ivanka are prohibited from participating in government matters that could impact their own or their spouse’s financial interest.
“Put the business on hold and stop trying to get trademarks while you’re in government,” advised Richard Painter, who served as chief White House ethics lawyer under George W. Bush to the Associated Press.
Since Donald Trump won the presidency and awarded his daughter an unofficial adviser’s role, concerns have been raised by both members of the administration and in the media that she could use her position to do just that. Despite having handed over operational control of her company to her top executive, Abigail Klem and its assets to a trust overseen by her husband’s family, she continues to wield a great deal of power over her brand.
These issues became particularly prominent in recent dealings between the United States and China, regarding trade and economic matters because of Trump’s growing list of business connections in the region.
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Norman Eisen, who served as chief White House ethics lawyer during the Obama era told the Associated Press that both Trump and her husband Jared Kushner should consider stepping away from government dealings regarding China.
“Ivanka has so many China ties and conflicts, yet she and Jared appear deeply involved in China contacts and policy. I would never have allowed it,” said Eisen, who served as chief White House ethics lawyer under Barack Obama.
“For their own sake, and the country’s, Ivanka and Jared should consider stepping away from China matters.”
However, quite the opposite has happened. Trump and Kushner have emerged as prominent figures in relations between the U.S. and China. In addition to Trump’s business ties, Kushner pursued hundreds of millions of dollars in real estate investments with Anbang Insurance Group, a firm with close ties to the Chinese state. Talks were called off after media reports of the pending deals surfaced.
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Trump’s attorney, Jamie Goerlick, said that while she and her husband will avoid specific areas of conversation pertaining to their business interests, they’re not legally obligated to recuse themselves from large berths of policy, such as trade with China.
“Ivanka will not weigh in on business strategy, marketing issues, or the commercial terms of agreements,” said Gorelick regarding Trump’s company in a statement sent to AP. “She has retained authority to direct the trustees to terminate agreements that she determines create a conflict of interest or the appearance of one…In between, you have to assess it case-by-case,” she said.
Whether or not the growth of Trump’s business is fueled by her political involvement, the brand claims a 21 per cent increase in revenues last year, though because the brand is privately held, does not have to declare its earnings or the source of its revenue streams.
(With files from the Associated Press)